Morning.
I was sitting in the quiet office.
—Ah, what a refreshing winter morning. How about a cup of coffee, my friend?
Yeah. I’ll have one at lunch.
As I lightly tidied my desk and talked with Brown to chase away the silence, around 8:50 my lizard-headed superior came in through the door.
I walked over and greeted him politely.
“Good morning, Leader. A fine morning to you.”
“Yes.”
I raised my head and continued.
“I heard that you helped make it possible for me to receive paid leave. …Thank you.”
“Yes.”
The lizard looked at me with only his eyes moving.
“Will you be able to perform your duties in the same condition as two weeks ago?”
“Yes. I can work like before. Even if my results aren’t the same as they used to be, I’ll regain my rhythm as quickly as possible.”
“I see.”
The vertical pupils stared at me.
“I will judge that and compensate accordingly.”
Mm.
At this point, I could roughly translate him.
‘So whether I do well or badly, he’ll watch and cover for me, and I should just keep working hard the way I always have?’
At this point, even if his appearance and choice of words were lizard-like, what did it matter? He was still a good boss….
Of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.
‘For a while, I absolutely have to clear Darkness properly.’
I’d even received paid leave already.
But then what if an employee who used to handle work so neatly he made assistant manager in only sixty days came back from leave and couldn’t produce results ‘like before’?
That…